Calling the Pharisees “fools” and the lawyers worse, Jesus did not endear himself to the leaders of the moral majority.[2] It was surely no shock that as a lot they sought “to catch him in something he might say” (Luke 11:54). Of course, they wouldn’t because they couldn’t, leading them eventually to fabricate testimony, illegally try, and falsely convict the sinless Son of God. But knowing what would come did not lead Jesus to dial back his criticism or concern, warning his disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.”
Tag Archives: Christianity
Signs of Legalism
Legalism is one of those terms often labeled but rarely understood. I’ve been accused of it, and maybe you have too, but what exactly is it? Is it, for example, loving God’s law? If so, count the psalmist guilty, who sang, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 119:97), but loving the law is not legalism. Or, is it heeding the law? If so, he who said he came not to abolish “the Law of the Prophets” but to “fulfill them” (Matt. 5:17) was a legalist. But he wasn’t.
Getting the Inside Right
In contrast, Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:29-30), not because living the Christian life is easy but because we live it under grace not law.[12] The grace of God in Christ Jesus informs the entirety of the Christian life, and only by grace can we get the inside right. True life comes not from moral reform or religious zeal but through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through faith in Christ, we are justified as righteous and filled with the Holy Spirit, that he may cleanse us from the inside out, that we may shine with the radiance of his righteousness. Amen.
True Blessedness
When Jesus cast out the mute demon from the man, enabling him to audibly praise the Lord, the people marveled and then grumbled. Some alleged that his miracles were the work of the devil. Others argued they weren’t enough. No one in that moment spoke up in his defense (as if the word and works of God need defending). But Luke tells us that there were more marvellers than the antagonistic and skeptical.
One Stronger
The first thirteen verses of the eleventh chapter of Luke’s gospel are in essence Jesus’ response to one request, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Jesus responds first with the Lord’s Prayer, providing a succinct model or pattern for our prayers, followed by a parable teaching us the attitude we are to have when we pray, all of which presumes that we pray. Knowing how to pray is of course no benefit if we don’t do it. But what exactly is prayer?
The Good Portion
Mary’s Christ-centered worship was of eternal significance, while Martha’s distractions were a form of idolatry. What Jesus graciously revealed to Martha is that worship is the one thing necessary, taking precedence over everything else. In Christ, the good portion is ours forever. Let us be faithful to feast upon it today!
Me and My Neighbor
To love those who love you is reciprocity. To love those who don’t is grace. And just as God has bestowed the immeasurable riches of his grace upon us, loving us while we were yet sinners, so we must gratefully respond to this grace by bestowing it upon others, loving our neighbor as ourself, and may all that we do then be done in love.[14]
The Joy of Serving Christ
You now know this, and in this revelation is your joy! Do you see it? Do you know it? Then, rejoice and share it. For, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!” (Luke 10:23).
The King’s Heralds
It is his word by his Spirit that does the work, as he told the seventy-two, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Luke 10:16). We are simply called to be the King’s heralds, but where the gospel is preached the kingdom is near.
What Does Following Jesus Look Like?
Jesus traveled from region to region, from town to town primarily on foot. And he didn’t travel alone. At this point in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus had a large following, made up not only of his chosen twelve but many more, some of whom he would commission into vocational ministry, as we will see in the next chapter. And as he traveled, he conversed with those who followed him as well as those who would, such as the three types we find our passage today, whom I call the naive, the preoccupied, and the half-hearted.
Planter, Pastor, Preacher 